Microsoft's dream cars

Redmond, Washington: First Microsoft set out to put a computer in every home. Now the software giant hopes to put one in every vehicle, too.

02 December 2003

"We'd like to have one of our operating systems in every car on Earth," said Dick Brass, vice-president of Microsoft's automotive business unit. "It's a lofty goal."

Cars with the Microsoft software will speak up when it's time for an oil change. They'll warn drivers about wrecks on the road ahead and scout alternative routes. They'll pay freeway tolls automatically. The software running their brakes will upgrade itself wirelessly.

"I don't want Ford making PDAs, and I don't want Microsoft making cars," one man said.

But bringing the two together seems inevitable.

Brass said drivers could use the system to create 21st century vanpools and help reduce congestion.

"It's possible to imagine setting a system in place with 5000 to 10,000 vans and have a dramatic reduction in traffic," he said. "With GPS and TBox, we have the tools we would need to put this all together."

Doug Klunder, director of the Privacy Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, asked Brass how Microsoft plans to protect individual information.

"We really, really, really understand the need for security and privacy," Brass said, suggesting that encrypting and not storing the information are two ways to address some concerns.

In May this year, Thailand's finance minister Suchart Jaovisidha got locked inside his BMW because of an onboard computer malfunction and had to signal someone to smash a window for him to crawl out.

It is not known if the problem was caused by the Windows operating system.

AP

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The size of your tyre is located on the sidewall of your tyre.It will be similar to the sample below.